Wilt
by HexagonalMX
Summary: Adam Taurus, was a young faunus that joined the White Fang. He wanted nothing more than to free his people from oppression. However, "Hell is paved with good intentions". And even the best of those intentions, can wilt into something wicked. Story starts a few years before Volume 1.
1. Chapter 1

The morning sun playfully rose above the horizon. Peaking its head through the window. Introducing beautiful natural light and warmth into the dim room. The sun cast its radiance upon his flesh. Slowly he stirred. Bellu was known for many things, but being an early riser was not one of them. So badly did he look for an excuse to roll over and return to his slumber. But sadly, none came to him.

With a groan and considerable effort, he swung his legs out to the side. And in one (albeit stiff) motion he stood; his large feet impacting with the wood floor of his quarters. He stretched his arms over his head and let out a yawn, hearing a satisfying pop as his arms extended past stiffened bodies limits. Slowly the large faunus turned and shuffled across to his bathroom, scratching at an itch on his shoulder as he went. The other hand trying and failing to rub the sleep out of his soft brown eyes. "_It's going to be a long day." _He thought to himself. He had no idea why he felt this way. "_Maybe I'm just being cranky._"

As he approached the slightly ajar door to his bathroom, he didn't bother to lift an arm to push it. Instead he opted to simply turn his body slightly and shoulder it open. With the door pushed open he focused on his next objective, showering. Sluggishly, he turned the knob of his shower and stepped into it instantly feeling his body jolt to life at the cool temperature. Cold showers always woke him up in the morning. He reached for the shampoo and began to apply it to his arms. Thanks to his faunus trait, he found himself using shampoo more than body wash when he takes showers. After applying a healthy amount of shampoo to his brown hair on his chest and arms he moved on to his head, then finished up by scrubbing with a bar of soap.

After stepping out of the shower and drying himself off he moved over to the bathroom mirror. His quarters were not designed with his size in mind, so he had to duck down slightly to see himself in the mirror. Examining his beard, he trimmed away at the frayed edges and evened it out. He never bothered fully shaving it off, it would only regrow in a day or two anyway. It didn't bother him though, he's had to deal with excessive body hair for most of his life. Even during his adolescence and now that he was older, he was pretty sure he'd look like a big brown hedge bush if he didn't maintain it.

Once he was satisfied with his features, he moved out of the bathroom and over to a trunk in the corner where he kept his clothes. Bellu was a simple man, light boots, jeans, and a grey T-shirt were all he needed most of the time; but they were a full month into the fall season, so it was a little colder than usual. Because of the cooling temperature he opted to also throw on his worn tan-brown jacket which hung in solitary on an out of place coat rack in the opposite corner of the room.

Putting on his coat and giving the metal magnetic holster on the back of it a light tap he set out, exiting his quarters and entering his office filled with rows upon rows of filing cabinets. Once inside, Bellu glanced up at the White Fang flag hung proudly above his desk. It's blue and white colors rippling in the soft breeze travelling in through a nearby open window. Bellu's gaze lingered briefly on the flag before he made his way over to his desk.

He was put in charge of the training camp he currently resides in and looking around once more at the sea of filing cabinets he was reminded that the White Fang was not a very lucrative business. They didn't have the funds to maintain a secure server. Due to this and the fact that they were also using a repurposed building from the faunus war on Anima, their data had to be put in filing cabinets instead of on a network.

They still used scrolls as often as they could, but for information on the trainees and staff they kept their personal data on file as hard copies. Speaking of files, he needed to grab some, as well as check his messages to see if his 'boss' gave him orders to change or update the training regimen. He used the word boss with contempt. While he may be in charge of this camp he still reported to a larger hierarchy, and he would often disagree with his boss. However, he had to put aside his differences and work with her for now. "_I'm doing this for Ghira. Not her." _He reminded himself as he took a moment to collect loose files that had gathered on his desk.

After sending reports and answering his messages he grabbed his clipboard and headed out to fulfill his duties. Exiting his office located at the end of the hallway, on the second story of the largest building in the camp he briskly strode towards the balcony. His head lowered to look at his clipboard, he went over the notes he had made on any trainees. He didn't have much. He chuckled to himself, he hoped his staff would pick up his slack. As he neared the stairs that would lead down to the first floor he turned and went down a smaller hallway passing more rooms. Most of these were empty, the staff here didn't need all of the space the repurposed camps provided so he moved pass them with little thought. He continued toward the screen door that would lead out to a balcony where he would watch the trainees below go through exercises.

As he pulled the door open, he found two of his staff members already there jotting down notes and taking pictures with their scrolls. They both turned to address him as he stepped onto the balcony. Both had looks of mild surprise to see him. He supposed he couldn't blame them, for being the camp leader he was somewhat… aloof.

The man on the left was the first to speak. "Well our leader has graced us with his presence. Have a nice hibernation?" Bellu smiled at his word play. He liked Jann, he was somewhat dry but he was clever. "Saved you a spot. If you need a lawn chair just ask and I'll grab you one." Bellu couldn't deny that he did sound a little annoyed, but not so much it should cause worry.

"Lay off him Jann. He does do other work you know." This time it was the other staff member that spoke up. Coral was more of the supportive type, but Bellu valued her opinion above all others. "We are glad you are able to join us Bellu." She flashed him a smile as she finished speaking.

"It's the other work that concerns me. I was under the impression Bellu needed to be involved in all the work. Not just some of it." Jann replied with a noticeable edge to his voice, as he thumbed through the papers he held in his hand.

Bellu finally decided to speak up. "If I did all the work, I wouldn't have need for such wonderful staff members such as yourselves. Also talking with Sienna is rather taxing, which often leaves me drained for the rest of the day." Bellu stepped forward between them as he spoke. From his left Jann only gave a dismissive hum before he turned back to the courtyard below. Coral however, giggled briefly before she returned to her own notes.

Bellu looked up into the sky from his spot on the balcony. The sun was over the horizon at this point and shining on the initiates below. If it were still summer, they would be having a much harder time doing their exercises. The trainees were in the middle of a sparring session, much to the pleasure of Bellu. He vastly preferred this than overseeing a workout. Bellu was pulled from his thoughts as Coral winced to his right.

"Alright that one looked like it hurt." She nervously clutched her clip board as she tapped it with her pen.

Jann merely shook his head. "Looks like it…" He said chiming in with much less discomfort in his voice than her. "It's a helluva lot nicer than the real thing though." The female instructor looked like she wanted to say something back to him but stifled it.

"I guess…" She grumbled under her breath. Bellu remembered how often they devolved into bickering and chuckled to himself at their words. He couldn't help but feel bad for Coral however. She was the youngest staff member here and often was brushed aside because of it. Seeing that they weren't going to continue he instead returned his attention to the combatants below them. It hadn't even been a minute since their exercises ended before they were sent to spar against each other. Bellu let out a sigh, with out question these methods improved the physical aptitude of the participants however, he sincerely doubted it would improve their ability to fight. Swinging sticks at each other endlessly will only increase their pain threshold at best.

Except… maybe that was not true for all of them. Turning his attention to the cause of his peers' most recent concern he was pleasantly surprised. One of the fighters with brunette hair was cutting a swath through every opponent he faced. Once one of the trainers below paired him off with someone, they really didn't last more than about half a minute. His moves were precise and calculated in stark contrast to the clumsy blows of the others. Where they showed sluggishness, he presented speed, where they brought ineffectiveness, he delivered strength. He wasn't perfect though, he would still get hit by his opponents every now and then. But he was clearly the best fighter in that yard by a mile.

* * *

The trainee shuffled over to the next area that he would be sparring in. He arrived at the same time his opponent did, a brunette boy that was much taller than himself. The drill sergeant that had led them both over looked to his opponent first. "Ready?" The drill sergeant asked his opponent.

"_They really don't give us much of a break._" He thought while steadying himself. Once his opponent had also composed himself, he looked to the sergeant and nodded. The sergeant then turned to look at the trainee and gestured to him, wordlessly asking him the same question. As the question was presented to him, he tucked his coyote tail between his legs. The trainee glanced at his opponent who met his gaze, seemingly examining him. He couldn't help but feel vulnerable under such an unnerving gaze. After a moments hesitation, the trainee gave an apprehensive nod. The sergeant took a step back made a cut decisively through the air and yelled "Begin!"

The trainee rushed his opponent hoping to surprise him, raising his stick high above his head, he thrust it downward in an arching motion. To his surprise his swing traveled farther than expected and impacted the dirt with a _thwack._ He looked to his right to see his opponent had already dodged around to his side. Before he could bring his stick up to cover himself, he saw a flash of brown hair followed by a sharp pain through his knee as his opponent danced easily around him. By the time the trainee had even processed this his opponent had moved again, ending up behind him. A pain similar to his knee reverberated through his back. The trainee jumped forward quickly, hearing the _whoosh_ of his opponent's weapon swinging through air where he used to be and whipped around to face him. His tail shot up and tensed as he found the keen eyes of his opponent burrowing into him. Fear crept through every inch of his body and any semblance of this being a training duel fell away under his gaze. The sharp color of his eyes contrasting with rich color of his hair gave him an other worldly feeling. His opponents black horns only added to this horrific visage. The trainee tried to stumble backwards but pain shot up through his knee where he was hit. The demon standing in front of him lowered his stance like a wild animal ready to strike.

"Stop! Stop! I forfeit!" The quivering trainee fell to the floor wailing as he dropped his weapon and threw his arms up to defend his face.

* * *

The sergeant shot his hand up and called the match. "That was a tremendous display of skill there!" He praised the fighter that remained standing. "You're gonna fi-… You okay son?" The chestnut victor hadn't moved, he simply stared at the boy now quivering and crouched in front of him. His face had displeasure written all over it. "Hello?" The sergeant snapped his finger in front of his face.

"Hmm? S-sorry I…" He trailed off unable to take his eyes off of the defeated trainee. "I think I just got carried away, I didn't mean to…" He said scratching his chocolate hair and gesturing at the coyote faunus.

The sergeant waved off his concerns "He'll be fine." He chuckled to himself while going to collect the sticks from both of the initiates. "He'll improve, not everyone can have the same knack for this stuff as you huh?" The sergeant gave a hearty laugh and walked off after giving him a slap on the shoulder.

The trainee was still crumpled on the ground. Feeling bad the victor strode over and offered him a hand. "Here." He said as gently as he could muster. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare-" The brunette offering his hand was cut short as the coyote faunus shrieked and scurried backward.

"Get the hell away from me!" He screamed in genuine terror. The bull faunus in front of him recoiled as if he had actually been struck in the fight and only just realized it. The faunus cowering before him was horrified.

"_He's… afraid of me?" _Sadness welled up inside him. Other initiates in the courtyard began to stare at the scene only adding to the nervousness of the coyote. A crowd was now loosely forming around the two. "I-I'm sorry…" The victor bowed his head as his cheeks began to change to the color of a ripe tomato. One of the other sergeants came over and rested a hand on the assaulter's shoulder.

"Why don't we give him some space?" The sergeant was much younger than the last and was able to give him a calming smile. The young victor only nodded as he kept his eyes firmly planted on his shoes as he walked away with the sergeant.

* * *

Bellu stared quizzically at the situation below; one trainee being escorted away while another was being consoled by his peers. "Muto Yura." He stated while flipping through his sparse notes.

Coral nodded "He's been rather nervous ever since joining up with our organization two weeks ago. I'm not sure he's cut out for it…". Bellu looked the kid over, he was young and no doubt wanted to help his race any way he could however, the White Fang had been changing lately. The change was gradual but still noticeable. Sienna Khan, one of the figure heads of the White Fang has steadily been increasing her influence in the organization. As of late she has suggested that the members of the Fang be trained in self defense just in case a protest goes awry. Which, to be fair, they have been known to. This Muto character may not be cut out for this as Coral said however, before Bellu could reply, Jann did.

"Well if today is any indication I have to agree with you Coral." Jann responded dryly. Coral's whiskers drooped as she flinched from his reaction. She always was looking for the best in everyone. Jann's words no doubt would hit her hard.

This time Bellu spoke up. "Still…" he interjected "… there may be some room for improvement. Monitor him over the next week, we don't want him to hurt himself." Coral gave a sharp nod and started jotting down notes on the coyote's behavior. "And Jann, we are here to help cultivate the abilities of the next generation of the White Fang. We shouldn't just give up on them."

Jann paused at Bellu's words. "I suppose you're right. My apologies." He started crossing things off and jotted down new notes frantically. The fins on his forearms swaying as he did. Bellu tapped his clip board a few times before turning to leave. Jann noticed this and called him out for it "Leaving so soon? You just got here, I don't think I saw you take a single note." Jann's eyes narrowed as his annoyance grew.

"Hmmm…" Bellu raised a hand to his chin in mock fashion. "I suppose you're right, I didn't… weird. And I don't need to stay longer, I've gotten everything I needed. You two should be able to handle the rest of it yourselves."

Jann went to reply but Coral beat him to it. "No problem, we'll be happy to." She gave Bellu a smile before turning to Jann with a stern expression "Right?" Jann only grumbled and turned back to the yard.

Bellu pulled open the screen door and threw back one last order. "Also, please keep an eye on our victor. He's just the type of person Sienna was looking for with this program." Bellu quickly thumbed through the registry of the initiates and found the recruit in question. "Adam Taurus."

* * *

General James Ironwood always had a very cozy office. It reflected him quite well. The office had the gold standard sterile color pallet of Atlas. However, it was the little details that really made it feel welcoming. The pillows resting on the couch, the fireplace that she had never seen unlit, foregoing pictures of himself for warm portraits of colorful landscapes. "_It was an apt allegory for him to be sure._" Winter had always thought to herself. "_The General carried himself with a rather ridged demeanor. But had a warm personality once you got to know him."_

Even the way the room was used spoke to this idea. He never sat behind his desk when others were in attendance. He sat across from them on a separate couch with a table in the middle. The table was adorned with pastries and drinks to help keep a non-confrontational mood. While the drinks may not resonate with her, she could at least recognize that others would appreciate the gesture. However, even all these refreshments and warmth could not help the current mood of the room.

Atlas was always colder than most areas of Remnant, that went without saying. However, once the General finished speaking the air in this office was colder than usual. Winter was attempting to grasp every facet of what was just revealed to her. Well not just her, one of her fellow specialists, Sylvan, was also sitting next to her. Sylvan and her had always had a rather trying relationship. It reminded her of the relationship she shared with that drunkard of a scythe-wielder; minus the… complicated past. She felt her cheeks briefly flush at the memories. Thankfully the General continued and brought her out of contemplation.

"…I don't want to jump to conclusions, but this is a matter that needs to be investigated. The faunus can only be pushed around for so long until they finally snap. I'm not suggesting we do anything drastic. But the Mistral council has asked that we investigate on their behalf."

She and her fellow specialist shared a look, but while Winter's was one of apprehension, Sylvan's was one of determination. Winter didn't like that look one bit, and decided to speak up before he could. "Sir, if I may." Winter turned once more and addressed the General. "Why would the Mistral council not investigate this matter themselves? Why employ us?" Winter gripped her pants as she spoke. Deeply concerned by the potential assignment. Thankfully her words seemed to give the General pause. Reports of faunus being trained in combat at camps in the outlying areas of Mistral. It sent off all manner of danger alarms in her head. She was relieved when the General spoke in a similarly reserved manner.

"Apparently" The General was clearly choosing his words with care "The Mistral council has lately been having some disagreements, and Leo is unable to reign everything in. Huntsman are also taking longer than normal on missions." She knew the General didn't much like the situation in Mistral, he would much prefer to look after 'me and mine' as the saying goes. However, as he said; if the faunus were going to become a threat then it was important to look into this.

"So why call us?" The second specialist spoke up this time. He leaned back further on the couch seemingly in thought. A stark contrast to the straight posture of the woman next to him. "Does this really qualify as a specialist situation?" Sylvan was a rather aggressive graduate, but he was a specialist for a reason. Winter could not deny his skill, even if she knew she could outclass him from here to Mantle.

The General did not hesitate to voice his reply. "Yes, this situation is one that qualifies more than others in some ways. We can't exactly send a small fleet into Mistral and not cause controversy. So I need a specialist to take a battalion and just investigate the situation and report to the Mistral council." The General slowly reached over and grabbed the bottle of whiskey and pored himself another generous glass. "Care for a drink?"

Both Winter and her peer declined. Though while he dismissed it with a rather neutral tone, Winter couldn't help but let a small amount of venom drip into her "No sir." She mentally chastised herself as soon as she had uttered the words. It was very impolite to reject an offer in that tone. It went very much against the way she had been raised. Then again, she was raised to be a glorified stage horse so perhaps it was not a terrible slip up. Still the General bowed his head at her words, offering a small frown as apology.

Sylvan once more voiced his opinion leaning further into the table. "Let me get this straight, you wish for one of us to work for the Mistral council? Trying to identify where terrorist cells are hiding in the countryside?" Winter was still put off by the tone he was adopting. It put her on edge.

"No, no. We don't even know if they harbor any ill will. Calling them terrorists will only escalate the situation."

"Forgive me general, but rumors of multiple groups of faunus gathering for weapons training does not strike me as a…. virtuous activity." Sylvan retorted. While Winter disagreed with the tone he used when speaking to their superior, she could not deny that he had a point.

"That may be, but we do not know the full story." The General let out a long sigh and took a sip from his glass. "Especially since that being the case would hinder the progress that we have made in racial equality." Sylvan muffled a scoff at the General's words which did not go unnoticed by the Headmaster. However, he showed more restraint than she would have in his shoes. He simply continued, albeit in a more aggravated tone. "And going back to your question. Yes, this problem falls under Mistral's domain. Since we will be investigating the matter on their behalf, they will be your superiors for the time being."

"Wait. I thought Mistral employed their own police force? Why would they need us?" Winter voiced yet another of her many concerns on the topic. She looked out of the corner of her eye and noticed Sylvan nodding to himself while resting his chin in his hands, a smile beginning to grow on his face.

"Mistral's police only operate within the domain of the city. They rely on Huntsman to deal with any problems that arise outside its boundaries." The general twirled his drink in his hand. Watching the ice clink against the glass. "And since we're dealing with foreign relations here, I wanted to send someone I knew could get the results they want." He took a hearty drink from his glass when he finished speaking, exhaling slightly and admiring the glass in approval.

"And you're sure that one of us is the best decision?" Winter glanced at Sylvan. She knew why the General would come to her. She scored higher and outperformed all of the other specialists. Sylvan however, he was, all things considered, a rather average performer. He was still a specialist, that title alone held merit, but aside from his semblance he brought no outstanding qualities.

"Positive." The General gave her a warm smile. "It is just a matter of which of you to send."

"I'll do it!" Sylvan perked up at the chance to volunteer. "I will carry out this duty to the very best of my abilities sir." His smile was gone, replaced with a disturbingly neutral look and a hint of feigned altruism.

"Winter? Do you have any grievances with Sylvan taking on this task?" The General once more directed his gaze to her.

"I-" Winter paused and looked at her fellow specialist. He looked back at her with mild interest, but also a fire in his eyes. It was almost as if he was daring her to take this away from him. Truth be told she did not want to get involved in this business. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her that this situation would turn sour. However, it might get worse than sour if Sylvan went. Winter let out a sigh and turned to face the General. "No sir." Winter didn't wish to start a confrontation that was not worth getting worked up over. If Sylvan wanted it, he could have it. Winter turned once again to look at the subject in question. "I am quite sure Sylvan will honor his kingdom and his rank with his service."

"Wonderful! Then it is settled. That's a weight off my shoulders. Sylvan, I will send you all the information available." The General stood and moved over to his desk. "I will also provide you with a direct line to the Mistral council. Now… I have an 'appointment' with Mr. Schnee. You are dismissed." The General seemed to force out the word appointment as he said it. When he finished, he sat back at his desk and began to gather files for transfer.

Both Winter and Sylvan saluted their superior and took their leave. Sylvan exited the room first, followed by Winter shortly after. Sylvan turned and began to walk down the painfully pristine hallways of Atlas, his hands behind his back and a spring in his step. "Sylvan…" Winter's voice was filled with warning.

"Ah, yes. Forgive me. Where are my manners dear Winter?" He turned to face her, all pretense gone from his demeanor. He wore a full smile. "Thank you, for not taking this opportunity away from me."

Winter regarded him with caution. "An opportunity for what exactly? To prove yourself?" Winter crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a disapproving glare.

"If that is what you wish to tell yourself, then yes. I wish to prove myself." Sylvan took a few steps in her direction closing the gap.

"Are you sure it has nothing to do with the nature of this assignment?" Winter stood her ground as he approached her.

"Nothing at all, oh friend of mine." His smile grew into an uncomfortably wicked one. He looked… hungry. When Winter didn't respond Sylvan turned on a dime and once more started walking down the hall. "Wish me luck!"

Winter did not move. She simply stood watching him leave. His specialist coat flowing behind him as he walked. She shivered at her discomfort. He could be irritable and annoying, but never had he acted like… like that. However, it was not her place to speak out against a comrade. Even one as off putting as that one. Winter slowly turned and went down the opposite direction of the hall.

What had she just let happen?

* * *

"You okay Adam?" A male's voice echoed to the right of him.

"Huh?" Adam barely even noticed him. He didn't notice much of anything laying flat on his back. He had just finished the final set of sit ups the instructor was running all the trainees through. Once Adam had finished, he had simply sprawled out and laid there. Deep in thought. "Yeah I'm okay."

Images of a scared faunus cowering before him, the rush of combat, the horrible glares he received, they all flashed through his mind. He wasn't okay. Still the male just outside of Adam's vision replied "Alright just checking." Taking Adam's words at face value. "_Who even had tried talking to me? Did it matter?_" Adam debated rolling on his side or turning his head towards the retreating sounds of footsteps, but he didn't.

He decided to lay still, choosing to rest his mind and body. His body complied gratefully, still tired from exhaustion, but his mind resisted the order for rest. The day had been too eventful. He had scared that boy… Muto? Whoever he was, he had clearly shaken him up considerably. That normally wouldn't have been a big deal, but after sparring all the initiates were released for lunch.

Adam usually ate alone like the social butterfly he was. He had never asked to sit with others before, not because he didn't know how to talk to others, he just preferred his own company. However, most of the initiates looked like they wouldn't have let him sit with them today. Granted not everyone looked at him like that, but quite a few tables wore that expression.

Adam couldn't help but feel… hurt? No, he wouldn't let his feelings get hurt over something so stupid right? Regardless, it made him more uncomfortable than normal and he ate his lunch alone until afternoon exercises which is why he was laying on the ground currently. The exercises didn't push him beyond any limits or past a breaking point, but it felt good to lay down without much of a care.

The courtyard where the initiates ran laps and preformed sets of exercises was right in the middle of the camp. The courtyard also had small dirt arenas scattered about for formal duels. However, in large group sparring sessions the whole field was utilized. After a few moments of reflection, Adam sat up, soaking in the feeling of his back muscles tensing as he did so. Most of the other initiates had left the field entirely. Now that they were finished with today's activities, they had free reign of the camp.

Most would probably return to their sleeping quarters to change and shower. The more serious faunus would go to the rec center to lift weights and increase strength. Weight lifting was not involved with daily training, but for those that wished the accommodations were there. Adam looked over to the main building overlooking the courtyard, most of the staff resided there. "_I hope none of them saw my... incident." _Adam winced, hoping that he wouldn't get in trouble with any of the higher ups.

"_Nope. Not worth worrying about something out of my control." _Adam shook his head and finally stood up, twisting and stretching out his body. "_What's done is done." _A small wave of guilt washed over him, but he quickly stifled that feeling and started towards the sleeping quarters. Normally, Adam would head over to the training dummies on the opposite side of the staff building to work on his sword play. However, today's events have left him feeling utterly drained.

One foot in front of the other, Adam had been living his life like that ever since he came to Mistral. He just managed to get out of Atlas and escape the hardship that was there, but he had escaped alone. Adam stopped walking and stood ridged. The dam holding the memories shattered in that moment, and a tidal wave of emotion hit him.

He had escaped, but he wasn't able to help anyone else, and ever since that day he felt alone. A group of female initiates blew past him. They were running some cool down laps after the exercises they had all just finished. They didn't even hardly acknowledge Adam. A trio of other trainees walked by him heading to the communal area, too absorbed in their conversation to even glance his way.

He was alone in the crowd, something blocked him emotionally. It was all on his end "_I have a goal. A purpose."_ One foot in front of the other, Adam continued towards the living quarters. He had joined a White Fang rally in Mistral that lead him to this camp. Adam thought that if he could end the oppression of his kind, then he'd be able to go back and save those he left behind in Atlas. However, peace would only get the faunus so far, they had to get stronger. Adam had to get stronger.

He knew he pushed himself harder than most, he had to do it for his family, his friends, and for the faunus.

The tide slowly receded, and the dam was patched back up. One shaky breath later and Adam was back to normal. Well, mostly normal, he was still unbelievably tired. He debated on whether or not to actually train tonight, the memories that resurfaced had reawakened the desire to push himself. However, his fatigued body won out, screaming for one night off. Adam relented, and decided to take his break. His walk took him towards the edge of the camp where the two large tented buildings were located.

These were the sleeping quarters for the initiates, one for females and one for males. Adam entered the latter, stalking through the aisles of bunks until he arrived at his own. It wasn't just his though, he shared it with a goat faunus that was currently passed out in the bottom bunk. Adam chuckled at the sight of his tongue hanging out while he snored softly. Adam's eyes traveled away from his sleeping bunkmate and over to the two suitcases at each end of the bunk, one for both of them.

Quietly opening his suitcase Adam stowed his shirt inside of it and retrieved the book he had brought with him: 'Taking the Mantle'. It was a story about a group of colonists trying to survive on the continent of Solitas. So far in the book, two members of their group had died due to an Alpha Beowolf that had been stalking them. The book had started off pretty slow and Adam didn't much care for it in the beginning, but now that the characters that had been set up in the slow beginning had been put in mortal danger, Adam couldn't rip himself away from it. His favorite character by far was the single faunus in the group that acted as their navigator and lookout. He wasn't the main character, but he was funny most of the time and serious when he needed to be. Plus, faunus representation was always nice.

Seeing humans and faunus work together to survive was probably one of the better aspects of the book. It filled Adam with hope for the future. A future that could one day be obtained, but only after a few groups of people had a change of heart or were pushed aside. Adam didn't have the answers and he certainly didn't know how to go about bringing the change the faunus needed. However, those were problems for another day. Slowly Adam folded the page he left off on, clutching the book to his chest and gave himself up to sleep. Right now he needed to focus on bettering himself.

Adam would prepare for the worst, just like the characters in his book. He would continue to get stronger just in case a monster would attack.

* * *

**Welcome to Wilt! My first expedition into the fanfiction scene. Thank you for taking the time to read this! Now I do want to address a few things here about the story. This is NOT an OC focused story. I realize it does feature quite a few in the first chapter, but most of them are background characters. I knew I didn't want to start the story from our main character's perspective, and this just felt like the most organic way to do it. ****I also knew I wanted to establish the character of a younger Adam. So I had to go a few years back before Volume 1. So we'll soon be getting closer to cannon. I promise it'll be worth the wait!**

**This chapter is more of a set up for the next few chapters to come. I'm going to try to keep to a weekly upload schedule so expect chapter 2 next weekend.**

**If you decide to leave a ****review, thank you! It helps a lot. Let me know if you enjoyed it, or if you didn't.**

**I hope you did enjoy it though! See you next week!**


	2. Chapter 2

"_Another morning of exercises completed._" Adam stretched his back and worked out the tension in his shoulders. A small breeze picked up and blew against him, calming his exerted body. Adam closed his eyes and, for a brief moment, just enjoyed the refreshing air of the early morning. He enjoyed the feeling of the wind kissing his face and cooling his sweat. Adam always felt better after these exercises, getting to work out the stiffness from his late nights of training is one of the highlights of his day. That isn't saying that much though considering his day was, for the most part, all around unenjoyable. Speaking of which, lunch time!

The bell sounded echoing throughout the whole camp. Adam's shoulders slumped slightly, not a sound he often enjoyed anymore. His fellow trainees started meandering over to the mess hall, some going in groups, others in pairs, and Adam all on his lonesome. "_It doesn't really matter. I'll just eat and warmup for afternoon workouts. I'm here to make a difference, not make lifelong friends. Still…" _Adam pushed out the intrusive thought and continued his trudge towards his goal.

The mess hall was one of the larger buildings on the edge of the camp. If Adam had to guess, this was the only building that had not been repurposed. "_If it isn't broke, don't fix it and all that._" Adam thought to himself. The staff certainly did a great job of refurbishing the buildings. Adam found it hard to believe that all these buildings would be in such great shape after decades of neglect. The staff were certainly on top of things here. Whoever was in charge was doing a great job of keeping things in shape. Though, now that Adam thought about it, he didn't think he had ever seen the camp director.

He threw a glance back towards the staff building, trying to make out anyone on the balcony. If anyone had been up there during morning reps, he didn't see any now. "_Perhaps I should be paying more attention to who exactly is observing us." _After a few minutes of walking Adam finally reached his destination and fell in behind a group of people that were entering the mess hall in front of him.

A coyote faunus took a few steps forward and held the door open for the group he was walking with. He even held open the door for Adam when he caught a glimpse of him behind his friends. However, when Adam approached the door the coyote tensed up. It was not hard for Adam to figure out why. This was the boy he had caused trauma to yesterday. While Adam thought the whole situation was a little overblown, he still could not help but feel a little bad.

Adam gave the gentlemen a smile. "Thank you." He said as he bowed his head and stepped inside, passing the rest of the group that was looking at him with particular distaste. He pushed them out of his thoughts. "_They'll get over it."_

"Freak." One of the males in the group muttered once Adam had taken a few steps away. This caused Adam to tense slightly, and pause his steps for a brief moment. He took a deep breath and continued towards the line gathered to get food. Still trying to deny that it bothered him. "_Focus on the positive. At least the line does not seem long."_ In fact, it looked like most of the other trainees had already either gotten food or were in line. Adam was pretty confident that the queue would only get smaller than it was. He decided to wash up and use the restroom before grabbing his food, not having to worry about the line getting much longer.

Once Adam had washed his hands and taken care of business, he looked at himself in the mirror. He never quite wrapped his head around how much he had grown up since he escaped Atlas, but to be fair, he had to. He stared into his sharp teal eyes, and ran a hand through his mess of brown hair. "I may be older, but it's still me." Adam smiled thinking about how much he had overcome, but he had much to overcome still if he was going to achieve his goals. "One step at a time." He reminded himself while drying his hands and exiting the bathroom.

Adam was pleasantly surprised to see that the line had decreased like he thought it would. It would only take him one to two minutes to get his food. While he waited in line, Adam cast his gaze out among the arranged tables and chairs and looked to find a spot to sit.

"Hey Taurus!" Came a voice from behind him that pulled him out of his thoughts. Adam wasn't entirely sure, but the voice didn't exactly sound friendly in tone. Maybe he had just misheard?

Adam turned to see someone he was not familiar with. "Hello, need something?" He said trying to sound genuine.

"I was wondering if you could apologize to Muto." Nothing about his tone sounded like he was asking. No, Adam was right the first time, not friendly. Wait… Adam did recognize him. Not by his face, but by his voice. This was the same guy that had called him a freak a few minutes ago. A heat began to stir in Adam.

"What?" A similar edge rose in Adam voice.

"Look, I don't hate you Taurus, but you did a terrible thing and you need to own up to it."

Adam was completely baffled. "Before this continues, I'm going to get this out of the way, I did apologize and it was an accident. Also, I doubt you actually have the story correct unless you happen to be the drill sergeant that watched our duel."

The faunus before him grew more agitated. "You attacked and pummeled a defenseless Muto after he conceded the fight. Also, I want you to apologize again publicly."

"First of all, if I did that I'd be kicked out of camp. Don't buy into rumors, you'll just end up revealing yourself as an idiot. Secondly, I don't really care what you want, what does Muto want?"

The faunus bit his lip in annoyance. "Muto wants to know you can be trusted." He was visibly shaking from Adam's words. "We're all brothers and sisters here, there needs to be a level of trust established."

Adam picked up a plate as he neared the front of the line. "Fine. Whatever." He was already sick of this guy. Grabbing a biscuit and some grilled chicken he moved onward in line. The faunus behind him made no move to continue the conversation so Adam continued. Grabbing tea and vacating the line he scanned the hall for Muto. Adam sighed when he noticed him being fawned over by three girls with a big sister complex. Other than Muto and the Three Stooges another male sat at the other side of the table, though from this angle Adam couldn't see what he was doing.

"Right behind you." The seething voice announced from behind the young bull.

Walking begrudgingly over to Muto, Adam ran through what he was going to say. "..._My most sincere… My deepest… no… I terribly regret… NO… ugh. Just say you're sorry and move on this show of regret is pointless._" Adam received several nasty looks as he walked through the hall. "_Just ignore them. Just ignore them, just ignore them just ignore them Justignorethem-"_

"A-Adam?" The younger coyote shuddered as he saw Adam approach.

"Muto." Adam replied a little more dryly than he intended. He winced slightly that he had already established a confrontational mood. Though to be fair, he was not the first in the situation to do so. Adam shot a glare at the male who had badgered him into this.

Muto only let out unintelligible stammerings. The other male sitting at the table decided to speak for him. "You gonna stand there looking like a class A prick or you gonna say something nice?"

Adam looked this male up and down. He wasn't impressed, average height and thin, but no muscle on him. "I wanted to see if he'd say anything or if I had to do all the work." Adam turned his attention back to Muto, one of the girls was whispering something to him as Adam finished speaking.

Muto didn't respond to either of the two asking for his attention. "Guess so…" Adam continued "Muto in the heat of the moment you may not have realized but I am sorry for what happened. I didn't mean or want to hurt you in anyway. I am sorry, however next time you want to talk to me." Adam once more shot daggers to the idiot that had harassed him in line. "Ask me yourself." Adam let the last sentence hang in the air for a bit, and moved to leave.

"A- I…" Muto stood as Adam moved to leave. Noticing, Adam turned to give his attention back to Muto. "I.. err- you… Thanks."

Adam didn't reply, he turned and took his food elsewhere. Still getting some wary and dirty looks as he went. "_Business as usual."_

The rest of Adam's time during lunch was spent in silence. He allowed his mind to drift speculating on how his book would end, or merely enjoying the white noise of conversations around him. He took another bite of his chicken and chewed it with trepidation "_The food doesn't taste as good today." _Perhaps it was just his sour mood, but he just didn't have an appetite. He swallowed the distasteful food, letting out a sigh when he finished.

"_Yeah, I'll skip lunch this time." _Adam rose and carried his tray of food over to a trash bin. He disposed of the rest of his food and took one last gulp of his tea. Once he finished taking care of his leftovers, he deposited his tray in one of the baskets and left the mess hall. He still had probably twenty minutes before afternoon workouts so he opted to just take a walk to kill time and cool off. He'd make his way back to the field in ten minutes or so.

One foot in front of the other he weaved his way through the camp. As he passed by the rec center, his eyes fell on a different set of buildings, the storage shed and the armory. He had a pretty good idea of what was in the storage unit, probably lots of dust. The armory however, that was more of a mystery. Obviously, there wasn't a neon dust sign yelling to the world this is where the weapons were kept. However, Adam had seen a few staff members retrieve rifles from there in the few instances that Grimm got a little nosey. "_But what exactly was in there besides rifles?_" The question burned through his head. It annoyed him that he couldn't come up with a concrete answer.

"It's fortunate that you aren't a cat, your curiosity would get the better of you." A voice behind Adam pulled him from his speculation and caused him to jump. It belonged to a young man wearing a plain grey T-shirt and brown slacks. He was holding a clipboard that he was currently flipping through, the fins on his arms flapping as he did. His flipping came to a stop as he landed on one of the papers in his hands. Adam just stood bug eyed, his hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar. The man's eyes narrowed as he focused on the page and he slowly looked up at Adam, his eyes continued to drift up until they were fixed on the top of Adam's head. "Though I really can't tell what you are."

"Ummm, I'm a-" Adam tried to interject but the man continued in his dry, manner of fact voice.

"A bull, yes I know…" He gave the clipboard in front of him a light smack before he continued. "…however, I don't quite believe it. Your features don't match up." He once more looked down to his clipboard.

Adam was deeply uncomfortable talking about faunus traits. They weren't animals, they just shared some similarities. "No offense but I'd rather not talk about my… features." Adam scratched the back of his head. "_Bad memories."_

The man pursed his lips and gave the clipboard one last glance before he returned the clipboard to his side. "Very well Adam, we have other things we can discuss." A small amount of edge dripped into the last part of his sentence.

"Forgive me but, how do you know my name?"

He raised an eyebrow at that. "It is the job of all staff to monitor the initiates."

"_Uh-oh." _Adam clenched his teeth at that. This staff member wasn't wearing the uniform of the White Fang. The fact that this was an instructor could only mean one thing. He cleared his throat and spoke once more. "I see… I guess that means you want to discuss yesterday."

The man let out a sharp huff of air. "No, I don't, this isn't usually my part of the job, but since I bumped into you before anyone else the duty falls to me by default."

"Sounds like a pretty arbitrary duty to me." Adam nervously chuckled trying to lighten the mood.

The man seemed to study Adam once more before his mouth curled up slightly. "Yes. However, that is not for us to discuss. Also, since I found you eyeing up the armory, I need to make sure you won't turn into a repeat offender."

Adam felt his body go stiff and he quickly shot a glance back to the building in question. "_This looks really bad!" _Just yesterday he accidentally assaulted a fellow trainee and now he is staring at the weapon storehouse. "No-no-no-" Adam quickly shook his head and made an 'X' with his arms. "I was just… curious." Adam winced as he said it.

"Yes, we've established that." The man once more holding his deadpan expression. "Just know that if you don't act on these curiosities there won't be a problem. No one on the staff holds you accountable for what happened yesterday and so long as it doesn't become a habit, it won't be an issue."

"_That's a relief._" Adam's body relaxed subconsciously. "It won't, I feel bad for what happened."

"How bad? Bad enough to admit fault?" The staff member narrowed his eyes at Adam. "It is one thing to apologize or feel bad. It is another thing entirely to hold yourself accountable." A moment passed as he let the words hang in the air. Suddenly his eyes went wide and he smacked himself against the forehead. "Gods, I sound just like her…"

Adam was entirely confused. "Umm…"

"Never mind that, just a peer of mine that's annoyingly optimistic." He lowered his hand from the red mark that was beginning to form below his blond hair. "In the interest of time, I will consider you properly confronted and end things here. I need to return to the staff house to oversee exercises and you need to get to the field."

"Right, I'll be on my way." Adam gave the man a nod and turned to head back to the field. Adam broke out in a light jog, trying to save time and put distance between himself and the awkward encounter behind him. "_Gahh, what was that Adam?" _He mentally chastised himself as he once more weaved through the camp. _"You couldn't have acted more suspicious if you tried."_

He resolved himself to pushing the sour thoughts from his head, and let himself focus on his workouts, but he just couldn't reign his thoughts in. His body went through the motions of the reps, but his mind wandered. He had been at the camp for two months now, and the workouts were starting to get tedious. They still required a fair amount of exertion on Adam's part, but they put little strain on his body. He understood that not everyone was at his level but still, he wished that-

Adam's aura suddenly vibrated his senses, his soul crawled over him trying to warn him. He closed his eyes briefly and listened. He was being watched. Adam turned his sweat covered face and removed his focus from his exercise. His vision snapped to the balcony, where the two instructors stood. He could only make out general details of the two. One was a female, she had something bright pink in her light brown hair. Adam could also recognize the blue and white contrast of her White Fang uniform. The male however wore a grey shirt and brown pants.

Adam wavered in his movements, it was the same instructor that he had just finished talking to. The worst part is that he was staring back at Adam, they both were. Adam felt his body stiffen, "_Have they always been watching me?"_ He quickly dropped his gaze back to the ground. "_Why are they watching me? Do they think I'll cause more trouble?" _The blow of a whistle signaled that exercises were ending. "_That felt quicker than usual." _Adam peaked at the balcony out of the corner of his eye. They were gone.

Adam stood up and glanced around. The other initiates looked equally as confused as Adam. Everyone was glancing at each other not really knowing what to do until one of the drill sergeants spoke up. His eyes were locked firmly on his scroll as he announced to the yard: "You're free for the day, the camp director has called for a staff meeting. He also said you all have been preforming well lately and could use a break. In addition to being released early today, you will also have a free day tomorrow, enjoy your free time." He finished reading the message and began to walk towards the staff house.

Sure enough, groups started to form and people began to laugh and mingle. Spirits rose as the reality of a day off began to set in, but Adam only felt uneasy. He looked back at the staff house. "_Why are they interested in me?"_ He couldn't shake the intrusive feeling their prying eyes gave him.

Adam shivered briefly trying to relieve his body of tension, and began to walk back to the sleeping quarters to change and get ready to practice his sword play. He felt compelled to continue practicing despite the time off. Though he had to admit, while he knew it was a useful skill to cultivate, he couldn't help but feel the activity growing tedious. At the very least it would be a good activity to take his mind off everything.

* * *

Slowly he drummed his fingers along his desk, deep in thought. Specialists were given generous living spaces in Atlas. They were also one of the few ranks that remained on site after graduating. His room, while spacious, was devoid of any personality whatsoever. If he were to leave and enter another specialist's room, they would be indistinguishable. Even their uniforms were unisex. Granted they were tailored specifically to the individual, but other than how form fitting they were they all wore the same uniform.

A sharp huff escaped Sylvan, he had been instructed to wait for the Mistral council to call him. This aggravated him to no end. Sylvan would have much preferred to be the caller, not the other way around. "Calm yourself." He muttered to himself as he leaned back in his chair and rested his feet on his desk. Sylvan was the type of person that preferred to keep to his own schedule, not to have that schedule be reliant on others. "They'll call when they call, fretting won't magically make them pick up the pace." He smiled at hearing his own voice, calming his nerves and taking some of the edge off. He opened his scroll and began to go over the information General Ironwood had sent him for the umpteenth time.

He hated busying himself like this but if he was going to be bored, he might as well make use of his excess time. "Faunus camps, outer Mistral, training, less White Fang rallies, spikes in recruitment. Yada Yada." Sylvan threw his head back in a grown and allowed his arms to drop to his side. "Nope I can't do it, it's too tedious." He sat back up and pulled his chair closer into his desk. He slowly turned on his holo-computer and tossed his scroll to the side in frustration.

He busied himself by reading up on the news from the other kingdoms and sending out emails to his subordinates. Sylvan had them taking stock of supplies and soldiers, he wanted to be ready to set out as soon as possible. Sylvan could not deny his excitement towards this assignment. He had always wanted to-

A vibration from his scroll interrupted his thought process. His hopes soared that the Mistral council was finally contacting him. Only for that to be dashed when he saw the name. His smile fell into a grimace, he slid his thumb across the screen and opened the message from Winter.

**[Miss Privileged: Sylvan, have you been contacted by the Mistral council yet?] **

"What could she possibly want?" Sylvan ground his teeth together at Winter's interruption.

**[Me: No, I have not, and since I am still waiting, I'd appreciate it if you didn't continue to contact me until then. I don't want you messaging me in the middle of this.]**

Sylvan closed his scroll and set it on his desk with a little force. It was no secret that he and Winter did not get along, which made it all the more infuriating when Ironwood called for them both yesterday. His scroll vibrated once more, eliciting a growl from the specialist. Another message from Winter, he was getting ready to block her number at this point.

**[Miss Privileged: Very well, however I would appreciate it if you would contact me when you have finished.]**

As much as it annoyed him, Sylvan could not deny he was curious. Against his better judgment, he took the bait.

**[Me: What is it? Worried about me? Your concern is flattering but unnecessary, this will be childs play.]**

Sylvan was not worried in the slightest about this mission. It might as well be your average scouting mission. He might have to take it upon himself to spice things up, or else it might be too easy. Winter replied much quicker this time.

**[Miss Privileged: No, it is not you I am concerned for and I do not wish to discuss your assignment. I wish to discuss who will take on your duties while you are away. However, that can wait, do not reply until you have finished your meeting.]**

"How dare- the gall!" Sylvan attempted to suppressed his anger at her order. The Schnee assumed she could just boss everyone around. Sylvan adopted a shrill mocking voice as he continued "Oh! I'm Winter, I'm the darling of our good general. I grew up in the richest family on Remnant. I am just more important than everyone else. I have good genes so I don't have to dye my hair. Bitch." Sylvan opened his front facing camera and checked his hair. It still held its metallic grey color, though some of the roots were turning to his original ginger color. "Damn that Schnee and her genetic abnormality."

Sylvan had to work hard to get his hair to the desired color. He dyed his hair once every two to three weeks. _"_I'm not jealous though, no of course I'm not, that goes without saying. I'm just… annoyed that everything seems to go her way._" _Sylvan sat in quiet contemplation for another five minutes before his scroll vibrated once more.

His long-awaited call from the Mistral Council. Sylvan connected his scroll to his holo-computer and accepted the call. Two separate screens appeared signaling that this was a conference call. One screen contained two women and one man all dress up in the traditional robes of Mistral. They all wore excessive makeup and the women had several adornments for their hair. Sylvan found their appearance laughably ridiculous, however it was the second screen that intrigued him more. An older gentleman dressed simply with a grey beard stared dully at the screen. Sylvan noticed the man had an almost dead look in his eyes, "_This must be the great Headmaster of Haven academy._" he thought to himself.

"Good morning specialist." The lead female addressed Sylvan in a highly dignified manner which Sylvan greatly appreciated, it was a stark contrast the usual cut and dry demeanor of the Atlas military.

"Good afternoon councilmen and women." Sylvan immediately slipped into his formal attitude. A small smile formed on his lips as he greeted the four, he remembered to take in to account the different time zones with his greetings.

"We apologize for the three-way call, but Leonardo is a busy man. His duties at his school simply prevent him from appearing on location." The lead female continued. Sylvan merely shook his head and waved it off with a gesture. The councilwoman nodded and went on "We assume you have read the preliminary information given to you?"

"Yes ma'am." Sylvan replied firmly. "I have read over all information you sent over."

This time it was the male councilman who spoke up "Do you have any questions for us?" He leaned in as he spoke and rested his sleeved arms on the table.

"I do actually have a few, yes. How is it that you came about the knowledge of these camps?" Sylvan leaned back slightly and looked at the sticky note he had written questions down on earlier.

"I can answer that..." The timid voice of Haven's Headmaster spoke this time. "Some of my huntsman were out scouting the movements of a few hordes of Grimm when they found a camp. They left it be at the time, prioritizing their mission over investigating. When they returned to Haven, we launched an investigation of the White Fang's movements. Sure enough, over the past few months there has been an increase in recruitment, but not a single rally had taken place within the kingdom since the spike in activity."

The Headmaster cleared his throat and took a long sip of his drink next to him. "_He seems distracted."_ Sylvan thought to himself as he analyzed the movements of the man. Leonardo pulled out a note card and continued to read from it.

"However, before we were able to send more Huntsman out to investigate, we had a large spike in official missions come in spreading our already thin numbers of Huntsman past its limit." He put down the card and once more turned his bloodshot eyes to the screen. "Which is why we have extended our hand to Atlas."

A pause rippled through the conversation, all eyes were looking at Sylvan. Slowly, Sylvan realized they were expecting him to say something. "Oh! Yes sir, my men and I will be more than enough to handle this problem for you." Sylvan noticed the Headmaster narrow his weary eyes at that remark, but Sylvan didn't skip a beat in continuing his sentence. "We can deploy at your discretion. The only thing I need are the coordinates of the location in question, unless you would prefer to meet in person first of course."

The lead councilwoman made a move to reply but Haven's Headmaster beat her to it. "That won't be necessary Mr. Ardent. We'll send you the coordinates of the camp we found and you can look into it for us." The old man took a deep breath before continuing. "We have been rather busy lately and we would prefer this be dealt with so we can move on to more pressing matters."

"Very well, we'll set out today and notify you when we set up camp." Sylvan gave a sharp nod at the screen. "That is, if it meets the desires of all other members of this council." Sylvan waited for any objections… none came "_Excellent."_

"Very well, now that this is squared away, we can continue with our duties." The council woman gave her closing thoughts. "We eagerly await to hear back from you." Their screen closed as they ended their side of the call, leaving just the Headmaster. Sylvan was surprised that he didn't disconnect with his colleges. Sylvan figured he had something more to say so he waited patiently for it.

"Specialist…" The man on the other end started, his face tilting away from the screen as he spoke. "…what are your intentions for these camps and its members?" The old man's head was angled away from the screen. It was almost childlike, his face turned away as if he had just been shamed by an elder. Weirdly enough, Sylvan thought the gesture suited him.

"An interesting question sir." Sylvan rested a hand on his chin and feigned contemplation. "I suppose that depends on their intentions for me, but if can help it I will differ to you and the rest of the council's judgement."

"I just want to make sure that you didn't have any personal bias in this regard." The headmaster angled his head back slightly so he was looking at the screen out of the corner of his eye. "But if you did… how do you think they should be judged?"

Sylvan's demeanor changed in an instant. "_What was he suggesting?" _Sylvan examined the man on the other end of the call. There was something else there, he knew something. Sylvan leaned towards the screen and dropped his formal tone. "Off the record sir?"

"Yes my boy, off the record." He didn't turn any further, he continued to watch Sylvan at his angle.

Sylvan smiled, his voice was cold. "Why, nothing more than they deserve of course. If they are found guilty then they will be punished as so."

"I-I understand, good d-day." The screen went black, and Sylvan smiled even harder. He sprung up and began to gather his things, he could leave immediately.

"Music to my ears."

* * *

Adam concentrated on keeping proper form as he pushed himself up from the ground and slowly lowered himself back down without touching it. He had lost track of how many he had done. Not that it mattered how many push ups he was able to do, only that he would continue doing the reps until the sergeants called 'time'. Adam was probably not the strongest member of his group of initiates, but he was in better shape than most. "_Probably due to how stupid serious I take these exercises."_ He scolded himself internally but willed his aching muscles to press on.

The final whistle blew signaling everyone to stop and enjoy some down time before dinner and bed. Another day of Training is over, supported by the sun lowering in the sky. Seemingly in an instant the once orderly rows of initiates were replaced by mingling groups and crowds. Many gathered into said groups or pairs and wandered off, but the crowds stuck around to try and set up an afternoon game or two. Adam however, chose to spend this time alone… again. Before the events of last week, he had become quite acquainted with some of his peers. However, after Muto had his freak out, everyone was apprehensive to be around him. Some would try and make polite conversation at times, but it was pointless small talk.

He made his way over to the training fields to practice against stationary dummies to try to become an even better fighter "_That's how that works right?_" He wasn't terribly enthused to be returning to this activity night after night. Adam was already leaps and bounds better than any other recruit at the camp. It didn't take a senior detective to figure it out, hell, a junior detective could probably see it. However, it was either this or awkward small talk with other trainees. Not that Adam really wanted to socialize in the first place, especially now that everyone treated Muto like the darling of the camp. "_Like he's so precious, I've seen the type of material he reads._" The image of the younger boy curled up in his bed reading magazines about heavy weaponry and muscle cars flashed through his head.

Adam gagged at the thought "_They shouldn't pander to him; he needs to get better if he's going to be any real help to the cause." _It wasn't like he was the only one that needed to improve though. Many were surprised and not prepared for this level of physical training in order to join a protest group. "_It is strange… why would we need all of this, just to chant in unison and hold signs?" _Adam had reached the field at this point and realized that he had already retrieved his bag from his bunk. He had been so lost in thought he didn't even realize he went to grab it. A wince escaped him as he sat the bag down near one of the dummies. He knew what that meant. "_I've fallen into a routine. I'm so used to coming here and doing nothing that I didn't even have to think about it._" Adam frowned and took a long draw from his canteen that he produced from his bag.

Wiping his mouth and setting his canteen back down, he went to pick up one of the practice swords on a nearby rack. Adam examined the weapon in his hand. "_Practice sword was probably not the correct term to use, something more appropriate would be… 'advanced stick'"_. His internal joke gave him a chuckle. He squared off against one of the wooden dummies and began to take his frustration out on it. Adam envisioned the weak points in the dummy's anatomy trying to strike them while mixing up his traditional form. Switching his stance regularly and throwing feints at vitals only to strike another when it becomes exposed. Eventually satisfied with this performance, he stepped back and thought about how he could improve the time between his strikes.

They sky had turned a deep orange color as the sun now approached the horizon. As he was gazing out at the sky, he heard someone shuffling behind him. Adam growled growing defensive "Do you creep up on your subordinates often?"

"Oh? And what makes you so sure I'm your superior?" The voice behind him chimed as he slowly walked up next to Adam. It was the sergeant that pulled him off the field last week, he still had that calm smile on his face. Adam felt himself relax a little at the sight of him.

"You really think any of the other recruits would come near me after the stunt I pulled last week?" Adam let out a sharp breath. The grinning faunus stroked the scales on his face as if giving the question some serious thought.

"Well I think some would if you weren't so damn off putting all the time." He let his response sink into the young man before him. Adam narrowed his teal eyes at the remark, but otherwise let the man continue. It took the slow faunus a few seconds for it to dawn on him that Adam had no intention of replying. Upon coming to this revelation he gave a slight frown before continuing. "You're lucky it was me that was curious as to why you've been wandering out here lately. If it had been one of your other instructors, they may have tried to flog you for snapping at them..." He trailed of, a sudden smile forming on his lips, betraying his previous mood as he looked at the bull faunus up and down. "And judging from how you perform on and off the clock I'd feel bad for them if they were to try that."

"Sir I-"

"Call me Vert."

"I'm not going to call you by your name… we're not friends"

"Not with that attitude Taurus!" He said, smile growing even larger. If his smile got any larger Adam swore it would cover his whole face. Once more he began to move, walking over to one of the training dummies. Well, walking would be a strong word, his speed was more akin to a crawl.

"What do you want?" Adam said with a defeated tone, fully dropping his guard. The instructor was still moving towards one of the dummies, moving painfully slow. "_Unbearably so…"_ He thought to himself. It took no shortage of patience on Adam's part to wait for him to reach his destination so they could continue the conversation.

"I'm supposed to spy on you." He finally reached the target dummy he was creeping towards, and slowly raised and arm to rest on it. "No joke, by the by, you've impressed a lot of the higher ups and they've taken an interest in you." Adam shuffled uncomfortably at the prospect of this.

"I'm uhh… honored?" He said taking a quick sip from his canteen. "Honored that I'm skilled enough to scare the hell out of a kid." There was an edge to his voice, Adam didn't direct it at Vert however. Vert craned his head to look up at the boy half a foot taller than him, an incredibly goofy expression painted on his face. His quizzical eyes and brow were offset by his seemingly trademark smile. "_What a creep" _Adam couldn't help the intrusive thought; this instructor was even more aloof than he was.

"They- er… we have been keeping an eye on you since around the time you arrived, and after what happened last week this has only increased. Besides, young Yura isn't exactly an emotional rock, no one here puts you at fault." Vert craned his neck once more and examined the dummy Adam had been wailing on.

"No offense, you're a terrible spy." Adam crossed his arms and looked down at the Turtle faunus as he began to trace one of Adam's scratch marks with a finger. Adam merely ignored his inspection. "You're not supposed to announce you're doing so."

"Ever considered I don't really want to spy on you?" Vert raised his head and did not wait for Adam to reply to his question before continuing. "I'm only making this known because the director of this camp wants to have a word with you."

"Wait, If you had something to tell me why would you be spying on me?" Adam yearned for the headache this man was inducing to end.

"Well one instructor in particular wanted me to keep an eye on you due to some apparent 'recent questionable behavior', but I think he's just being a worry wort."

Adam's mind flashed back to his encounter with the particularly dry instructor last week. "_If only aura could heal my headache." _Adam briefly brushed his hand against his brow before returning to the conversation. "Well, I hope that you revealing yourself means that you don't think I'm dangerous."

"I never said that." Vert pushed himself off the dummy and began to head back the way he came. "Tomorrow someone will swing by your barracks and bring you to your meeting. Enjoy your day off from training." He raised his hand in farewell and slowly sauntered off. Adam thought about calling back to him but decided against it. Instead he continued to wail on the dummy for another half hour until it was dark.

By the time Adam returned to the barracks and got out of the shower, his legs were about ready to give out. He had been pushing himself too hard this week. As he shuffled back to his bunk the other faunus in the room either didn't notice him or did their best to avoid him. Adam let out a sigh, he was used to it by now, but he still didn't like the feeling all that much. They probably could tell he was in a foul mood anyway and left him alone.

Adam crouched in front of his suitcase and debated retrieving his book. He decided against it, he was too drained. He had slowly been reading less and less recently. "_It's been a busy week." _At least he had a day off tomorrow, he could look forward to that. With some effort he willed his tired body to climb into his top bunk, relishing in the feeling of being wrapped in fabric and despite his mood he slept well that night.

* * *

**Before I say anything else I want to apologize for the ridiculous amount of time it took me to get this chapter out. I said I should have the next chapter ready in one week not two months. Honestly though I thought I would, this chapter was about halfway done by the time I uploaded the first chapter. In fact I finished this chapter about a month ago, I just never went over it and only just edited it recently. The next one shouldn't take nearly as long for me to finish. I've taken some time and I think I have a pretty good road map of the story laid out. I'm not going to say I'll have it done in one week, but it shouldn't be more than two. I want to upload regularly and now that my semester is finally wrapping up I should have more time to focus on this.**

**Anyway, now that the excuses are done let's address the chapter! Although I think my first chapter is pretty solid, I couldn't help but feel it focuses a little too much on the OCs I've made for the purposes of developing Adam as a character. So this chapter I wanted to focus more on Adam himself than the new characters. However, I still felt compelled for the sake of plot and overall pacing to put another Atlas scene in. So thank you for bearing with it for the time being, I understand OCs are not for everyone (Hell I'm also in that camp) but Adam is such an incomplete character in the show I feel the to flesh him out more before I move on to other characters in the White Fang and the show as a whole.**

**Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


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